I stared at the video playing on the screen of my phone in disbelief as tears streamed down my face. One of my closest friends had sent me the video, along with the caption, "Sorry to be the one to show you this, Elizabeth, but you needed to know. A friend who recognised your husband from the barbecue last month passed this on to me. I'm here for you if you need me.". The video showed my husband, Bill, sitting at the bar inside a swanky hotel that I recognised from a previous stay with him. He wasn't on the work trip he said he would be on, instead, he was cosying up to a tall blonde at least ten years younger than him. I didn't recognise her as one of his colleagues, and his actions were far too flirtatious as he put a hand on her leg and moved in for the kiss.
Anger rose inside me like a volcano threatening to erupt and my whole body tensed to contain it. He didn't deserve my restraint, especially as I saw him leave the bar hand in hand with the tall blonde; it didn't take too much to imagine where they were heading and what they were about to do. Rage consumed me, and although I wanted nothing more than to call and confront him, my methodical nature took over. I could rush to confront him now and demand a divorce for his infidelity, but I wanted him to suffer; to break him and humiliate him like I felt broken and humiliated seeing the evidence of his cheating.
Just like that, I managed to rein in my emotions with a steely focus as I began planning his demise. I tamed the anger surging inside me promising to make him pay for his betrayal. He was nothing without me, a worthless sales agent who barely made minimum wage. It was only because of his marriage to me that he had become accustomed to some of the finer things in life. I didn't want to believe that he had married me for my wealth, but we'd only been married five years and he was already cheating on me. He'd been on a lot of work trips recently, who was to say that this was the first time he had an affair?
My first point of call was to hire a private investigator. If I were to file for divorce from Bill, I wanted to make sure that he didn't receive a penny from me. My assets, including ones he used like my cars, were all in my name. He could argue that he had become accustomed to a better lifestyle when he married me, but it was his infidelity that broke the contract of our marriage vows.
A month passed and Bill was none the wiser that I knew of his infidelity and that a private investigator was tailing him. He acted increasingly charming to me while the private investigator informed me that he continued to meet with that woman from the hotel. If I weren't so angry, I'd be distraught. Bill had been my rock and was there for me during a tough period of my life. I thought we were doing well after five years of marriage, but apparently, that was not the case.
I confronted Bill face to face with a letter from my legal team stating that I wanted a divorce. Immediately, Bill denied that he had been cheating and called me paranoid and delusional. The illusion of his charming nature was shattered as he tried to make me feel small, make it look like I was crazy for believing he would cheat on me. It would have worked as well, I wasn't that strong with confrontations, and Bill was very confident in his convictions, but thankfully, I had proof. I couldn't describe how good it felt to see his jaw drop when he realised he'd been caught. The man had been stupid enough to sleep with the tall blonde, not only in a motel room with the window left open but also outside in the woods. My private investigator had joked with me that he'd never had an easier job in catching someone without breaking any privacy laws.
"You can't leave me, where will I live?"
Bill cried, his face was full of panic. For the first time in our relationship, I felt a shift in power in the dynamic. Despite him living off of my wealth, I leaned on him emotionally and he supported me in areas of life I wasn't confident enough to handle. He'd often taunted, asking, 'What would you do without me, hey?' but judging by the desperation in which he panicked, he needed me now.
"That's not my concern, Bill."
"What, after five years of marriage, and the ten years we've known each other, you're going to get rid of me just like that?"
I held my anger at his attempt to shift the blame to me.
"You're the one who cheated on me, Bill. You're the one that violated the trust and sanctimony of our marriage."
"I'm sorry, I'll do anything to regain your trust, please let me stay here. If you kick me out, I have nothing and owe dangerous people money."
So that was the truth of it. Bill had been asking for more money from me recently, and I knew that he'd had a gambling addiction in the past. I shouldn't have blindly trusted him when he promised he wasn't gambling. His pleading grated on me, and despite the betrayal, I still loved him. Who was I kidding, could I really live with myself if I put him out on the street when people were chasing him for money? Still, I was angry, and I wanted some kind of satisfaction from seeing him suffer.
"Stop begging. Look, I still want a divorce, I can't trust you again, not after what you've done and I'm sure there's a lot more that I don't know about. Look, you can stay here for now while you sort out your finances, but under two conditions: while you're here, you wear my underwear. I want you to know how little of a man I think you are at this moment, and two, I get a free pass with men to make up for your infidelity."
I wasn't thinking about what I was saying and wanted to see his reaction. He looked taken aback as he wrestled with his masculine pride. Even though he had cheated on me numerous times, the thought of me sleeping with someone else was something he didn't want me to do.
"Of course, I could just kick you out now and sleep with whoever the fuck I want. As of now, we are no longer together, and you have no claim to anything of mine."
Bill looked defeated, months of cheating had caught up with him, and I wondered if the debt he owed was more significant than he had mentioned. Sighing, he agreed to my request for the divorce, signing the paperwork I needed to send back to my legal team.
"Good, now as long as you don't go against the rules I set, you can stay here until you are financially better off and able to move and make a life of your own elsewhere away from me."
"Is there any chance you'd forgive me?"
Bill looked down to the floor, uttering the first thing today that was probably honest. Regret filled him, but was he wanting forgiveness because he loved me or because of the lifestyle and money I had given him in the past?
"It's unlikely Bill, You've hurt me more than you can imagine, and I'm not sure that breach of trust could ever be repaired. I'm not heartless, you can stay here as long as you take over the majority of the chores, and you agree to my rules. Mark my words though, if you cross me, or try to steal from me, I'll make sure you're out on the street."
Bill sighed and I walked away from him telling him to change into a pair of panties of his choosing out of my wardrobe. For the moment, there was nothing left to say and I couldn't stand the sight of him any longer.
A little later that afternoon, I had confirmation from my legal team that the paperwork was already being processed. Since he had agreed and signed to my intentions for a divorce without leaving him anything, there wasn't much work to be done. He could have probably tried to go after my wealth, but he had no claim to it and I doubt the judge would offer any sympathy after seeing all the evidence of his unfaithfulness.
Bill walked in avoiding my gave dressed in nothing but a pair of black, lace panties. He was of average build, but since I had lost a little weight myself recently, they were perhaps a bit small on him and they looked ridiculous with his hairy balls sticking out the sides pathetically. Seeing him like this made me briefly forget how angry I was and I couldn't help but laugh as he bent over and plugged in the vacuum cleaner. Bill was clearly determined to prove he was going to be true to his word, though he couldn't meet my eye knowing how ridiculous he looked.